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Is it time for a hypothecated tax to fund the NHS?

In our debate, leading figures debated the pros and cons of breaking years of Treasury orthodoxy.

The Government has announced £20bn of extra money for the NHS – but has yet to explain how it will pay for it. One option that has gained considerable currency is a dedicated tax for the NHS (hypothecation).

At this event, leading figures debated the pros and cons of breaking years of Treasury orthodoxy.

In favour of hypothecation:

Lord Nick Macpherson, crossbench Peer and former Permanent Secretary to the Treasury 

Dr Clare Gerada, former Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners

Nick Boles MP, Conservative MP for Grantham and Stamford since 2010

Opposing hypothecation:

Dame Minouche Shafik, Director of the London School of Economics and former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England

Mark Pearson, Deputy Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at the OECD

Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow since 2010

The debate was moderated by Jill Rutter, Programme Director at the Institute for Government and summarised by Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and Economics at the Health Foundation. 

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Keywords
NHS Tax
Publisher
Institute for Government

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